Watry’s WWE Hell in a Cell Review

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan In Less Than A Minute” and October 2016’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Backstory

This is my 2018 WWE Heck on a Deck review.

HIAC 2018 Review

– I watched the Vikings/Packers game earlier on Sunday and made it back home just in time to see the Kickoff Show starting. Then I proceeded to NOT pay attention. The New Day are beyond stale and have been for two years, while the entire Rusev Day thing has outlived its’ relevance. Remember when Rusev got that filler WWE Title bout? Yeah, just do the Lana/Aiden English/Rusev implosion and get it over with. I predicted no title change and well, no title change. SAD.

– Good way to begin the pay-per-view with a HIAC match and then close with the other later. Makes sense. Reminds me of 2009 when The Undertaker and CM Punk opened inside the cell. Have to spread out the gimmick during the evening. I have praised this feud up and down for the past month and stand by it. Randy Orton is showing some new life with his new persona, and Jeff Hardy is still a big fan favorite even if he is taking time off to heal in the immediate future. We got the heel victory and the face wild stunt. That is what I predicted and exactly as we received.

– Becky Lynch is you new Smackdown LIVE Women’s Champion. I picked that outcome, and it is what the WWE Universe deserved. It was time. It truly was. No need to stall until Evolution or Super Showdown or Survivor Series or WrestleMania 35 or 2025. We had to have the title change NOW! Seriously, the iron was about as hot as that straight fire was going to get. Kudos to everybody for the story told since Summerslam. I admit I got suckered into the “Charlotte stole the moment” hype, but once everything played out, credit to WWE. Good job. Right payoff, right decision.

– Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler retained the RAW Tag Team Titles over Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Another ‘W’ in the Watry Was Right column during the PPV. While many suspected The Shield would rack up all the gold on Sunday, I disagreed. Drew is a stud, and Dolph is still fighting for acceptance since his latest (re)spotlight on Monday nights. Super good action and clever ending sequence. Rollins IS still the IC Champion remember…

– Back to the blue brand, as AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to keep the WWE Title. I predicted that to happen, and it did. Score another one for the good guys. Controversy did go down though. Down under next month! It appears as if Styles tapped out just prior to picking up the three count. Okay, fine. Kind of a repeat with the Shinsuke Nakamura rematches earlier in 2018 but fits the Super Showdown build. Joe feels robbed and really, he was robbed. One more match in Australia with NoDQ(.com) rules to settle the score once and for all. I am picking AJ there as well. Nice bout.

– Hey, another Smackdown match! This time, it is The Miz and Maryse vs. Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella. Yes, I predicted the heels to win, and yes, I even said Maryse would pin Brie. Check and check. The bottom line is this. Maryse does not have much to brag about. It is all talk and always is. Now she can at least claim some kind of cheap win over an opponent. We all know it is garbage but whatever. Maryse can say it because it is technically true. Plus, this adds fuel to the fire if WWE wants this issue to keep going until Evolution, as I assume Nikki Bella will be busy elsewhere on the card. As for the men, Bryan will get his big revenge on Miz when the feud ends. Not at HIAC in a mixed tag team match. Would not makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. Rest easy folks, we will get to the proper conclusion.

– Ronda Rousey demolishes Alexa Bliss to keep the Raw Womens Title. No real surprise in that result. I said it’d happen so did the rest of the world. Well, except my girlfriend who picked Bliss. Don’t ask why. Rousey is now freed up to find a new opponent. Rumor is Nikki based on all the foreshadowing the past few weeks. Plus, let’s be real. Is there another woman on the roster who has the same kind of crossover mainstream appeal to the casual audience than Nikki Bella? Her and Rousey locking up at Evolution would be an easy sell to the media come October. There may be other options, but that may be the best one to make the first ever all women’s pay-per-view a huge success.

– I will break down the HIAC Universal Championship main event:

Mick Foley – He barely did anything. That is what I assumed would be the case. Just be there for the historic shout out to 1998 and stand in the background. His WWE Network special that aired late Sunday night was pretty entertaining too. Kinda dragged but he told the story of the cell match well and has a way with his words even if some of the jokes didn’t land. Recommend watching for sure.

Red Cell – First impression I posted on Twitter: I don’t like it. Red is my favorite color, so maybe it will grow on me with time. The color change is NOT a big deal. There is no use in complaining and saying the gimmick is officially ruined or whatever. That is too far and an over reaction. Just felt like there was no need to make such a drastic change.

Four Others – About halfway through the match, we saw a brawl take place outside the cell between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler fighting Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. It helps build up Super Showdown but also allowed for a quick ‘distraction’ as I doubt Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman were going to climb the cell and take a flying leap twenty feet in the air. Intense stuff and I thought added a ton to the chaotic scene. Plus, WWE gets some brownie points for living up to their word that all four men would not and could not enter the cell to interfere. They didn’t actually enter the cell. Ha!

Brock Lesnar – This was the surprise of the evening and made for quite the shocking moment. Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar came down to the ring and immediately took over. Brock busting down the cage door and Heyman taking out Foley with some kind of blinding spray to the eyes. Lesnar took out both Reigns and Strowman (who were already done) and left. Arrive. Show Off Beard. Wreck Guys. Leave. Cash Paycheck. I liked it. This tells us WWE and Brock are NOT done with each other, even if the Universal Title is off him and a UFC return is pending.

Draw – I didn’t like the non-finish. Felt like a cop out and a major cheap way to end the PPV, especially inside the cell where there are no rules. Never did I even expect a non-finish because that is just not even something you consider. Like the red cell, I groaned and thought it stunk to the high heavens. I will say this which gives it a *small* benefit of the doubt though. Very small mind you but hear me out. WWE gave us chaos, gave us a wacky Jeff Hardy spot, gave us Ziggler and Rollins taking a wicked fall, gave us AJ/Joe, gave us a Rousey match, gave us Becky Lynch as champion, and even gave us a Brock Lesnar surprise appearance. Is the non-finish ideal or even satisfying? Of course not. However, looking at the show as whole, it more than delivered.

SUMMARY: Counting the main event as Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title, this was your standard Watry Gets Every PPV Match correct affair. I enjoyed the first half of the show a ton and felt like the second half kept up the momentum just enough to get to the Brock Lesnar ending. We now shift focus to Super Showdown in a few weeks with Evolution not behind. Exciting times.